Chapter 69 "December 9" Movement

In the autumn and winter of 1935, the Japanese invaders instigated the pro-Japanese traitors to engage in the so-called "North China Autonomy" conspiracy.However, the Kuomintang government is planning to set up the "Jicha Political Affairs Committee" and continue to suppress the anti-Japanese speech and ban the anti-Japanese movement.As a result, patriotism is a crime, and traitors big and small celebrate each other. "North China is so big that there is no room for a peaceful desk!" On December 9, patriotic young students from major high schools in Peking broke out in silence and held vigorous demonstrations.The team gathered at Tiananmen, passed through Xinhuamen, walked around Shichahai, and arrived at Wangfujing Street. The order was very strict. Along the way, they shouted "Stop the civil war and unite with the outside world", "Oppose North China's autonomy" and "Down with Japanese imperialism"

Wait for the slogan.Facing the biting cold wind with bare hands, they shouted for the survival of the Chinese nation.What I encountered along the way was "bayonet-mounted rifles, big knives, rampant motorcycle police cars, and tap water that turns into ice when it hits the ground."As a result, some students were injured and some were arrested.On the second day, students in the city went on strike, and then students from all over the country also held patriotic demonstrations. The wave of anti-Japanese democracy quickly spread to compatriots from all walks of life across the country.This is the famous "December 9th" student patriotic movement.

What does Hu Shi think of the vigorous student patriotic movement of "Jan. Say: On December 9th, the large petition parade held by students from various schools in Peking was the most gratifying event in the northern youth circle that had been silent for many years. We middle-aged people can't help it anymore, let alone these young men and women who are full of vigor!...the number is not large, and the team is not neat, but when we see them, we can't help but feel "empty valley footsteps". He also said that the student movement that day was "a feat known throughout the world", and also affirmed the achievements of this movement's puppet show against "self-government" in North China.

However, Hu Shi's praise is only superficial.His "advice" to the student movement was not to praise, but to oppose the student strike.He has repeatedly said that "strikes are the most unhelpful action", are "unfortunate", and "will lead to social contempt and disgust".Hu Shi probably also knew that this student movement was carried out under the leadership and promotion of the Communist Party of China.Therefore, he accused the "minority" of instigating class strikes as "spreading some groundless rumors", "manipulating" and "superficial incitement" by a few people; A group of teenagers being led by the nose in a daze."Hu Shi put on the posture of a young mentor, teaching students to recognize this and that, but his true intention is only one thing, that is, to let young people ignore the current national crisis and immerse themselves in reading, "determined to seek them in the library and laboratory." Serve the power of the country in the future."

He categorically denied the "demonstration with slogans and slogans", saying it was "empty and useless" and "absolutely powerless".He even personally tore up the notices posted by the patriotic students of Peking University in the First Hospital. ② Hu Shi's attitude of superficially praising, but denying accusations is obviously somewhat contradictory.His attitude towards the student movement has obviously become conservative step by step along with the change of his political status.During the May Fourth Movement, he encouraged the student movement, thinking that "the movement of students to interfere in politics is a last resort in a perverted society"; in commemoration of the May Fourth Movement in 1921, he also borrowed the words of Huang Zongxi, a great scholar in the late Ming Dynasty, He affirmed that the student movement is a "legacy of three generations", "the best policy to protect the country, and the only way to achieve political clarity"! ③ During the "May 30th" Movement, he still admitted that "the patriotic sincerity of young students" is lovely and respectable He also accused the government of "not only being unable to use people's support, but being afraid of it", or "only using people's support to facilitate their own private plans", but on the other hand, he began to accuse the student movement of "not being sustainable" People run around and shout," especially against students who strike and give up their studies.He repeatedly urged students to learn from Goethe and Fichte

, without being "disturbed by the outside world", sit in the library and read at ease, "make yourself a useful talent". ④In the 1930s, Hu Shi asked the young students to learn from the French scientist Pasteur, "when the country was humiliated and humiliated, he finally refused to abandon his microscope and laboratory." ⑤ Proceeding from this idea of ​​"saving the country by education" and "saving the country by science", he opposed students' strikes and abandoning their studies, and advocated that students should concentrate on their studies and make themselves useful talents. This can be said to be Hu Shi's consistent understanding and attitude. Out of the sincere concern of a scholar and educator for the studies of young people, it is also for the long-term interests of the country and the nation to "cultivate people for a hundred years"

plan.However, Hu Shi did not judge the situation at all. In the autumn of the national survival crisis, he still insisted on education and academics, suppressing the patriotic enthusiasm of young students, which made his attitude towards the student movement more and more conservative; he even favored the Kuomintang government. Standing on the opposite side of the patriotic struggle of the youth and students. On December 16, students in Peiping held a larger-scale demonstration against the establishment of the Hebei-Chahar Political Affairs Committee. They were brutally suppressed by the military and police of the Kuomintang government. Up to 200 students were injured by machetes, stabs, and sticks. many people.The barbaric actions of the reactionary military and police aroused even greater indignation among the young students. The city continued to strike and the struggle deepened, further promoting the anti-Japanese democratic movement across the country.At this time, Hu Shi wrote "Re-discussing the Student Movement" and "Letter to Students from All Universities in Peking". ⑥Although he also criticized that "the authorities' handling was wrong" and condemned the military and police for using weapons to injure and stab unarmed students as "absolutely unforgivable barbaric behavior"; but his gist is still to oppose student strikes.Hu Shi pretended to be "national public opinion" and said, "I have absolutely no sympathy for their strike." He urged students to "resume classes immediately, and stop wasting time." He also said:

You students are all in school, and there have been two protests, which are enough to arouse the people and make it known to the world.Actual service to the country cannot be achieved by shouting slogans and distributing leaflets with bare hands.When young students realize the goal of serving the country, they should work hard to train themselves to become knowledgeable and capable talents for the needs of the country.If we continue to waste our studies, causing a problem today and causing a tragedy tomorrow, it will not be beneficial to serve the country and save the country. It is simply that the young people are abandoning their own responsibilities and destroying the future of the country!

Hu Shi's argument seems to be that the students are making trouble for no reason, creating incidents, creating tragedies, and destroying the country's cadres. They are in the same tone as the party-state authorities-thinking that patriotism is a crime! Such a fallacy, of course, was immediately rebuked by young students.For this reason, Zhou Zuoren once wrote a letter to comfort Hu Shi, saying that "it is usually thought that young people are on our side", which is probably wrong.Hu Shi never conceded defeat in his reply letter. Although he admitted helplessly that in the past ten years, "most of the young people did not stand on my side", he argued that he was "refusing to follow fashion, unable to tell lies, and unable to provide for them. Vulgar taste" is not welcomed by young people. ⑦

However, can the new youth of the country be deceived by fashion, lies, and vulgar tastes? The key is who has the truth in their hands.What's in Hu Shi's gourd? The young people have learned it many times. ① This article was reprinted in "Independent Review" No. 182, published on December 22, 1935. ② See the letter attached on December 11, 1935 in Volume 12 of the manuscript of "Hu Shi's Diary". ③Refer to "Huang Lizhou on the Student Movement", originally published in the "May 4th Commemoration" special issue of "Morning News Supplement" in 1921, and later included in "Hu Shi Wencun Two Collections", March 6, 1929, Volume 3, pages 11-15 .

④Refer to "Patriotic Movement and Studying", originally published in "Modern Review" Vol. Edition, volume nine, pp. 1145-1153. ⑤Refer to "Gifts to This Year's College Graduates", originally published in "Independent Review" No. 7, published on July 3, 1932; later included in "Hu Shi's Recent Works", Episode 1, Shanghai Commercial Press, April 3, 1937 Edition, Volume Four, Pages 524-529. ⑥ "Revisiting the Student Movement", contained in "Independent Review" No. 183, published on December 29, 1935. "Letter to Peking University Students" (draft), contained in "Hu Shi's Correspondence Letters", Beijing Zhonghua Book Company, May 1, 1979, volume 1, pp. 292-293. ⑦ Refer to the letter from Hu Shi to Zhou Zuoren dated January 9, 1936, contained in "Selected Letters from Hu Shi", Volume II, pp. 296-300.